The Evolution of Network Structure and Media Choice in Operational Emergency Swift Teams: An Exploratory Study

This study looks at swift teams formed with the purpose of recovering from operational emergencies. The problem solving process associated with these teams include an early stage, where the main goal is to restore the process to working conditions, and a later stage, longer in duration, where the root cause of the problem is found and eliminated. Based on field data from 19 swift teams at an industrial operation, it was found that in the evolution from early to later stage, media usage shifts from highly synchronous to asynchronous and the structural characteristics of the teams' collaboration networks mutate as well. These effects are different when comparing high vs. low performing teams.